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The
Edge of the World An
aerial Òtaxi rideÓ to and from the climbing area was scary for Simon Willis,
and even more frightening for the moose! Our plane
came in so low and so fast we took the moose completely by surprise. Just as I thought our propeller would
shred the poor creature our pilot yanked back the control column and the
single engined DeHaviland Beaver leapt into the blue Alaskan sky. The brochure called this ÒflightseeingÓ
and, while the moose would probably use a different word, it was an
exhilarating introduction to the flying skills of Paul Claus. But to this day, IÕm convinced I saw
those antlers duck. IÕd heard
about Paul Claus long before I met him.
HeÕs a Òliving legendÓ in these parts, which is a rare combination for
an Alaskan bush pilot. Mythical
status is usually a posthumous honour, conferred after that one unfortunate
glacier landing too many which ends with a mess of metal in a yawning
crevasse. His fame is partly due
to the stunt flying he performed in the 1996 feature film 'Alaska', and
partly because of an American television documentary in 1998. But the plain truth is that he is an
extraordinary flyer, taking visitors like me into one of the wildest places
on the planet and, most importantly, bringing them out again safely. ÒUltima
ThuleÓ, the edge of the world, was the designation early Greek mapmakers gave
to the most Northerly habitable land they knew and itÕs also the entirely
appropriate name for PaulÕs family ranch. Together with his wife Donna, Paul has transformed it into
a luxury backcountry resort.
TheyÕre too discrete to name names, but do admit to being visited by
rock stars, movie actors and CEOÕs of major corporations who come for the
fishing, the hiking and above all, the sheer peace and quiet of being in the
heart of a State thatÕs bigger than France, Spain and Great Britain all added
together but with fewer residents than Glasgow. They pay big money to enjoy PaulÕs aerial excursions over
a landscape the locals call ÒThe Big WhiteÓ. With seventeen of the USAÕs twenty highest peaks and five
thousand glaciers, one of which is larger than the whole of Switzerland, this
is the American Himalayas, a vast frozen desert of snow and rock, the true
back of beyond. Paul is
also the local a taxi driver.
WeÕd chartered him to fly us into the mountains of the Wrangle - St.
Elias National Park for two weeks climbing, but when I met him at the tiny
airfield in Chitina I was a little concerned. Peering inside the aircraft it wasnÕt so much the lack of
seat belts which worried me as the complete absence rear seats. ÒIf you want comfortÓ, Paul drawled,
ÒFly American. If you want to
get there, Fly MeÓ. While flying
is PaulÕs passion, climbing comes a close second and one helps the other. As we flew in, Paul pointed to peaks
he suggested we attempt and also singled out those we should avoid. ÒIÕm saving those for myselfÓ, he
shouted over the engine noise.
Since Paul decides who flies, where and when the message was clear; if
we wanted a ride out, stay off his mountains! The
mythology surrounding this man is maintained by a catalogue of Paul Claus
stories, regularly repeated and embellished, in bars and airfields around
this frontier state. There's the one where Paul rode a thermal to
twenty five thousand feet, six thousand higher than his plane was supposed to
be able to fly. The one where engine failure forced him onto the Bagley
Ice field in a storm and he had to rip the padding out of the seats and stuff
it in his clothing as insulation, surviving four sub-zero nights. And
many, many stories about PaulÕs ability to insinuate his aircraft onto the
smallest, most precarious patches of snow, often having to leap out while the
propeller still turned to anchor the machine with an ice screw, to prevent it
sliding off a cliff. He wasnÕt
boasting when she said, Òif you want to get there, fly meÓ, he was simply
stating a fact. Two weeks
of snowy sweaty climbing later, we were back on board PaulÕs plane and
heading for a real treat, lunch at the luxurious Ultima Thule. From the air the ranch is almost
invisible, the neat wooden buildings merging into the surrounding trees. As we flew closer I could make out
cabins, a variety of small aircraft, a dog team but no cars or trucks -
obvious really, since the nearest road is more than a hundred miles
away. While lunch was cooking,
Donna showed me around the large, beautifully furnished cabins and told me
more about their wealthier clients.
ÒMost of allÓ, she confided, Òthey here come to escape. There are no ringing phones here - in
fact, we donÕt have a phone, just a radio. ItÕs as close to the edge of the civilised world as most
people want to get.Ó Tour over,
Donna suggested, or rather insisted, our group take a sauna. ÒYou donÕt realise it, but after two
weeks on a glacier yÕall smell kind of ripe. The saunaÕs the best way to get rid of the stink. If you want to eat that is.Ó An hour or
so later we were again clinging to our rucksacks as the tiny plane bounced
down the homemade runway and flung itself towards the sky. Paul treated us to the full
flightseeing experience, swooping low over bears, birds, sheep and of course,
that moose. Most animals
probably assumed they were being stalked by a curiously large mosquito,
heaven knows Alaska breeds them big enough, but all of a sudden this mosquito
abruptly ceased buzzing. The
last thing a passenger in a single engine plane wants to hear is
silence. For a split second, it
was serene, then the mood in the tiny cabin took a nosedive, and I prayed we
werenÕt about to do the same.
Calmly, Paul turned from the controls to give us a reassuring wave,
switched to the reserve, and affected the aerial equivalent of a bump start. The engine burst into life, and I
breathed again. To this day, I don't know whether allowing that tank to
run out of fuel was standard Paul Claus practice or a genuine mistake. Or perhaps the king of Alaskan bush
pilots was just having a little fun at our expense. Flying very
small planes in very large mountains is much like climbing; itÕs the risk
that makes it fun. Perhaps his
mastery of both skills helps forty-year-old Paul judge just how far to push
it. ItÕs said there are old
pilots and bold pilots, but no old, bold pilots. Paul Claus just might be the first. Information The
Facts POPULATION:
550,043 STATE
CAPITAL: Juneau (population: 29,960) SIZE:
586,400 Square Miles CURRENCY:
United States Dollar LANGUAGE:
English. Flights The standard route is British Airways (or one of
many carriers) to Seattle then Alaska Airlines to Anchorage or Fairbanks. Internal
Travel Despite the vast distances, most
people get around Alaska in rental cars. If youÕre headed to a popular hiking / climbing area then
there will probably be a shuttle van from the airport or downtown. If going to Denali, then thereÕs the
Alaska railroad. Internal
Flights Reaching the wild interior
usually requires the services of a bush pilot. Be careful how you choose - here everyone has an aircraft,
even the drunken firemen with whom I played darts in an Anchorage bar! TheyÕre relatively cheap and used
rather like taxis, but not all are licensed to transport fare paying
passengers. The National Park
Offices of the main climbing areas like Denali (001 -907-683-2294) and
Wrangell-St Elias (907 822 5234) will provide details of licensed operators. Paperwork Most people travel on the US Visa Waiver programme
(up to 90 days) providing you qualify.
Check at www.usembassy.org.uk When to go
Mountaineering season starts in March, but lasts
into July when there is virtually 24 hours daylight on the glaciers. In early June there is only a couple
of hours of near darkness at night, but it can be very cold, down to minus 15
to 20 degrees centigrade. The
daytime temperatures are surprisingly comfortable, depending on whether there
is significant wind chill or not, ranging between 3 and 20 degrees
centigrade. The weather is
relatively stable at this time of year, but short lived storms are a possibility, and these can put down a
couple of feet of snow in a few hours. Maps Trails Illustrated publish maps of popular areas on
waterproof paper. (map 249
Wrangell-St.Elias National Park and Preserve). Available from Stanfords or over the internet. Has lots of white bits. Equipment If you plan a spring mountaineering
trip, camping on the glaciers, youÕll need a tough tent like a North Face V25
and a light-weight warm sleeping bag (1000 grams of down - minimum). The Mountain Equipment Everest proved
ideal, as was the Annapurna down jacket. Climbing gear and plastic double boots are, of course, a
necessity. Extra
Information The United States
Department of the Interior is not given to hyperbole, so you know youÕre headed
somewhere special when the official guide reads like this: ÒIncredible. You have to see Wrangell-St.Elias
National Park and Preserve to believe it-and even then youÕre not too sure. The number and scale of everything is
enormous. Peaks upon peaks. Glaciers after glaciersÓ. The sub-text is pretty clear - donÕt
blunder around unless youÕre an experienced Alaskan mountaineer or youÕll
come to grief. Hire a guide, or
go with a specialist operator. Specialist
operators Ultima
Thule Lodge Offers a range of holidays, but
theyÕre all expensive! However,
they do reasonably priced flights into the Wrangell St-Elias National Park.
Anchorage Office; 1007 H Street, Anchorage, AK 99501 Phone: (907) 258 0636 http://www.ultimathulelodge.com UK
Companies Less expensive is the UK based
companies KE Adventure Travel (01768 773 966) www.keadventure.com. Or try Cloudwalker Expeditions (01222
810 502). They donÕt stay at the
lodge, but hire Paul Claus to fly climbing teams into the National Park. Alaska
Facts á
ItÕs
big. 586,400 Square Miles. 2 times the size of
Texas. 33,000 miles of
coastline! á
Alaska
was purchased from Russia for $7,200,000 - roughly 2 cents an acre. á
As
well as having the northernmost point in the U.S., Alaska also has both the
easternmost (Semisopochnoi Island in the Aleutian Islands) and westernmost
(Little Diomede Island) points in the U.S. How? Because
Alaska crosses the International Dateline. á
Juneau,
Alaska's capital city, has no outside road access and can only be reached by air
or water. á
The
Alaskan town of Barrow, located only 800 miles from the North Pole, has
nearly three months of continuous sunlight beginning on May 10. However, when the sun sets
on November 18, Barrow receives no sunlight for over two months. á
During
the 20th century, 25% of the global energy released by earthquakes has been
released by Alaska earthquakes. á
Half
of the public roads in Alaska are unpaved. á
Alaska
has an official state fossil - the Woolly Mammoth. á
Alaska
accounts for 25% of U.S. oil production. Approximately 90% of Alaska's state
revenues come from the production and export of crude oil and natural gas. á
Over
the past 300 years, at least 41 different volcanoes have erupted in Alaska. á
The
Alaska State Park System is the largest park system in the U.S. with over 3.5
millions acres of land and water. á
Seventeen
of the twenty highest peaks in the U.S. are located in Alaska, including the
highest - Mt. McKinley (20,320 feet above sea level). á
Over 1/2 the world's Glaciers are here. á
The
Alaska state flag was designed by a 13 year-old student from the town of
Chignik. á
ItÕs
55 miles East of Russia. |
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